Stop device for ticket issuing machines and the like



March 27, 1956 s. M. DIXON ET AL 2,739,686

STOP DEVICE FOR TICKET ISSUING MACHINES AND THE LIKE 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed May 1, 1952 FIG.1.

March 27, 1956 s. M. DIXON ET AL 2,739,686

STOP DEVICE FOR TICKET ISSUING MACHINES AND THE LIKE I Filed May 1, 1952 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 flyF'la. KMRQW /7 m/P/VEy March 27, 1956 5 M DlXON ET AL 2,739,686

STOP DEVICE FOR TICKET ISSUING MACHINES AND THE LIKE Filed May 1, 1952 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 March 27, 1956 s. M. DIXON ET AL 2,739,686

STOP DEVICE FOR TICKET ISSUING MACHINES AND THE LIKE Filed May 1, 1952 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 H K27 3 37 33 r INA EN 719/95 5 WA/LEV M17 D/XOM J/V/VES air/7w 0/ /455,

STOP DEVICE FtJR THIKET ISSUWG MACHINES AND THE LEKE Stanley Mark Dixon and James Edward Davies, Chippenham, England, assignors to Westinghouse Garrard Ticket Machines Limited, London, England Application May 1, 1952, Serial No. 285,567 Claims priority, application Great Britain May 1, 1951 Claims. (Cl. 192-439) 1 This invention relates to ticket issuing machines and the like.

Machines are known which comprise a drum which may carry type wheels bearing the matter to be printed, adapted to be rotated by an operating handle to print a ticket for each revolution of the drum, or to issue a ticket from a roll of previously printed tickets. The drive is transmitted from the handle to the drum through gears. When the machine is in its normal position a pivoted arm locates and holds the drum by means of a nose formed at the end of the arm fitting into a recess formed in the surface of the drtun or of a disc and cam member carried by the drum. This arm must be lifted out of the recess before the machine can be operated. Such machines may incorporate means for printing upon a strip or roll of paper hereinafter referred to as an audit roll a record of the tickets issued, and it is necessary to ensure that the issue of a ticket is prevented if the audit roll runs out, Or breaks, or if the audit box, in which it is housed, is displaced. It has accordingly been proposed that the audit roll, when in position holds a pivoted lever out of engagement with a recess formed in a bush provided on the drum or on one of the drive gears, towards which it is biassed by means of a spring. When the audit roll breaks, or is expended, one end of the lever is enabled to enter the recess in the bush and thus prevent the rotation of the drum until the audit roll has been attended to. The audit box itself is held in position by the door of the machine, which has to be opened in order to gain access into the interior of the machine, and the arrangement is such that when the door is opened the audit box, which is pivotally mounted, swings about its pivot and allows the above-mentioned lever to enter its recess, thus preventing the operation of the machine whilst the door is open. The door may be provided with a lock and key to prevent unauthorised tampering with the audit roll or mechanism. In order to ensure that the door has been locked before the machine can be operated, a further locking arrangement is provided comprising a link capable of being moved longitudinally when the key is turned in the lock in such a way that, when the door is unlocked, one end of the link extends into a similar recess for preventing movement of the drum and is withdrawn therefrom only when the door is again locked.

in machines such as described above, it is sometimes desirable for the drive between the operating handle of the machine and the drum to be such that more than one revolution of the handle is required for each revolution of the drum, and the necessary gears are provided accordingly. it may also be desirable, when issuing double tickets for example, for the drum to rotate more than once for each cycle of operation of the machine. It may also be desirable to carry out the locking of the drum on an intermediate gear rather than on the drum itself, by providing the necessary recess to receive the above mentioned lever and link in a boss formed on the gear. In such cases it is necessary, once the operation of the machine has commenced, to prevent the re-entry of the lever ates atent and link into their recess until the cycle of operation is complete, even. though the gear may, during this time, rotate say two complete revolutions and thus bring the recess into position to receivethe lever and the link before the completion of the operation.

The invention is illustrated by way of example in the accompanying drawings of which Figures 1 and 2 and Figures 3 and 4 show the front and side elevations respectively of two forms of ticket issuing machines embodying the invention, one of the side plates mounting the mechanism of the machine-being removed for the purpose of clarity.

Referring to Figures 1 and 2, a lock 1 of a well known construction is mounted in one side plate 2 and a pin 3 isfitted into the barrel of the lock at a distance from its axis. The barrel of the lock can be turned on its axis through by means of a key thus displacing the pin 3 from a position on one side of the axis of the lock to a position diametrically opposite. I

The pin engages a slot 4' intermediate the ends of a link 5 which is slidably mounted at one end on a pin 6 which is fixed in the side-frame 2. The other end of the link 5 is connected by means of the pin 7 to an arm 8 of a r shaped locking lever which has two other arms 9 and iii, and is pivotallymounted on the side plate 2 on a common pivot 11 with a second V shaped locking lever having two arms 12 and 13.

An L shaped lever 14 is pivotally mounted on pin 15 on the side plate 2 and is pivotally connected by means of pin 16 to arm 12 of the V shaped lever by means of the link 17 and pin 18. One arm of the L shaped lever is held in contact with a pin 19 on the audit box 20 by means of a spring 21. The pin 19 is slidable in a slot provided in the side of the audit box, represented diagrammatically by the broken line 19a, and is biased by the spring 21 and lever 14 towards the right hand end of the slot as viewed in the drawing. The pin 19 extends inwardly into the audit box and the audit roll 20b therein is threaded round a roller 20c and the inwards extension of the pin in such a manner that so long as the audit roll is intact it holds the pin 19 in the position shown in the drawing, thus preventing the lever 14 from being turned about its pivot 15. When, however, the audit roll breaks or becomes exhausted, the pin 19 is released and no longer prevents the spring 21from rotating the L shaped lever 14 about its pivot 15 to swing the V shaped lever about its pivot 11. A similar effect is obtained if the audit box 20 is swung downwards about its pivot 20a for the purpose, for example, of inspecting or changing the audit roll, when the pin 19 is swung, with the audit box, away from the lever 14, permitting the latter to beturned about its pivot 15 as described above. I

A stop member, or pawl 22, is pivotally mounted on pin 23 on the side frame 2 and is also pivotally connected by means of pin 24 to a link 25 and thence by means of pin 25A spring 25B and pin 26 to an arm 27 which is pivotally mounted on pins 28 on the side frame 2 and has formed at one end a nose 29 which, with the machine in its normal position is held by a spring 30 in en gagement with a recess 31 formed in the print drum 32 to lock the drum and thus prevent the operation of the machine.

A gear 33, which has a boss 34 provided on one side, is rotatably mounted on the'side plate 2 and can be rotated by means of an operating handle 35', and a recess 36 is cut in this boss, in such a position that when the Y shaped locking lever and/ or the v shaped locking lever is swung about its pivot 11, one end ltl or 13 thereof enters the recess 36 and, by thus preventing rotation of the gear, prevent-s the operationof the machine. The gear 33 is in to the print drum 32.

The machine is provided with a rear door 33 hinged on a pin 39 along its bottom edge and arranged to open outwardly. A bolt 49 is fixed to thedoor and has a slot 40a cut in it which is in alignment with the lower end of the above mentioned sliding link when the door is bolted. When the bolt 48 is slid to lock the door and the lock 1 is operated the link 5 is carried downwards and its lower projecting end '41 slides into the slot in the bolt and thus prevents the latter from being withdrawn to unlock the door.

The movement of the link 5 as the lock ii is operated also swings the Y shaped lever about its pivot ill until it reaches the position wherein its end is withdrawn from the recess 36 in the boss on the gear.

The depression of a manually operable lever 42 which is pivotally mounted on pin 43 on the side frame 2 and normally held in its inoperative raised position by a spring 44 causes a cam 45 to rock the pivoted arm 27 about its pivot 23 and disengage its nose 29 from-the recess 31 in the print drum 32, which is thus now free to rotate.

The rotation of the handle 35 rotates the print drum 32 through the gears 33, 37 and a ticket is printed and issued.

If the manually operable lever 42 is released after the print drum has commenced to rotate, the nose 29 of the pivoted arm 27 makes sliding contact with the periphery of the print drum which holds it up until the printing operation is complete. When the operation is complete the nose of the arm again engages in the recess 31 and the print drum is again locked against further rotation.

As the arm 2'7 is rockedto release the print drum, the link 25 which connects it to the stop member 22 causes the latter to rotate about its pivot 23 until it is positioned under the arms 12 and 9 of the V and Y shaped locking levers in such a position as to prevent their rotation and the entry of the other arms 13 and lb into the recess 36 in the boss of the gear 33. .The stop member 22 is held in this position until the nose 29 of the pivoted arm has re-engaged with the recess 31 in the print drum.

Should the paper in the audit box become exhausted during the printing operation thepin19 in the audit box is moved out of engagement with the L shaped lever 14 and when the printing operation is complete and the nose 29 of the arm 27 enters the recess '31 in the print drum the stop member 22 is rotated about its pivot 23 and is disengaged from the arms 12 and 9 of the V and Y shaped locking levers, permitting the L shaped lever 14 to swing the V shaped locking lever until the arm 13 enters the recess 36 in the gear, thus locking the machine against further operation until the audit box is replenished.

Thus, if the paper in the audit box breaks or becomes expended, any operation of the machine that has been started can be completed but the machine is locked against further operation until the pin 19 has been restored to its normal position by renewing the paper in the audit box.

Similarly the arm 10 of the Y shaped locking lever pre vents the operation of the machine unless the lock is in a position corresponding to that in which the door 38 is bolted and locked.

Conversely, it is not possible to unlock the rear door 38 when the machine is in any position other than its normal standing position with the nose 29 of the pivoted arm 27 in engagement with the recess 31 in the print drum 32.

The spring B is provided to protect the link 25, the stop member 22 and the V and Y shaped locking levers against any undue strain shouldthe machine be locked against further operation and the manually operable lever 42 be inadvertently depressed.

The machine can be arranged to issue either single, or double or any desired number of tickets during each complete operating cycle.

When the machine is arranged for the issue of single tickets, the ratio of the gears is 1:2 but when double tickets or a higher number are to be issued the ratio of 4 gears is 1:1 thus for each complete operating cycle it is necessary to rotate the handle, and therefore the gear and boss, two or more complete revolutions.

With this form of ticket issuing machine however, it is evident that should the operator retain the manually operable lever 42 in its depressed position and at the same time continuously rotate the handle 35 a number of times to produce a series of tickets by successive printing operations, the nose 29 of the pivoted arm 27 will be prevented from moving into engagement with the recess 31 at the end of each revolution of the print drum, and it the audit roll should break or become exhausted during these successive printing operations the stop member 22 will prevent the arm 13 of the V shaped locking lever moving into the recess 36 in the gear 33 to lock the handle and render the machine inoperative until the operator decides to release his pressure on the manually operable lever 42 and so free the pivoted lever 27.

Figures 3 and 4 show a modified arrangement in which the machine is rendered inoperative should the audit roll break or become exhausted while the manually operable lever 42 is retained in its depressed position and the operating handle continuously rotated, the movement of the stop member being controlled not by the manually operable lever but indirectly by the operating handle.

Referring to Figures 3 and 4 the gear 33 which is provided on one side with the boss 34 and on the other side with a first additional gear 46 can be rotated as in the previous embodiment by means of the operating handle 35 and is in mesh with the intermediate gear 3'7 which is rigidly fixed to the axle of the print drum 32. A rotatable unit comprising a second additional gear 47, totalisator mechanism -i'i'a (not shown in Figure 3) and an i eccentric 48 is freely journalled on the axle of the print 7 drum and driven by the operating handle 35 through the first and the second additional gears 46 and 47 in such a way that the eccentric and totalisator mechanism make one complete revolution for each cycle of operation of the machine during which period the print drum makes one or more complete revolutions depending on the type of ticket to be issued. 7

The gears are only partly shownin Figure 3 in order to illustrate more clearly the other elements of the modified arrangement.

The recess 36 is cut in the boss 34 as in the previous embodiment and is so arranged that when the Y or V shaped locking lever is swung about its pivot one end (10 or 13) thereof enters the recess and by thus preventing rotation of the gears 33 and 46, prevents the operation of the machine.

The stop member is pivotally mounted on pin 49 on the side frame 2 and is formed with two arms 50 and 51, the arm 5i) having at one end a projecting nose 52 which is held by a spring 53 into engagement with the eccentric 43. The other arm 51 of the stop member is arranged so as to be positioned under the arms 12 and 9 of the V and Y shaped locking levers to prevent their rotation and the entry of the other arms 13 and 10 into the recess 36 in the boss of the gear 33 until the completion of each oper' ating cycle of the machine when the eccentric has completed its revolution and the stop member is in the position shown in Figure 3.

A stop 54 is mounted on the side frame to limit the movement of the stop member when the eccentric is being rotated.

Depression of the manual operable lever 42 causes the pivoted arm 27 to rock about its pivot and disengage its nose 29 from the recess 31 to the print drum which is thus free to be rotated by means of the operating handle through the gears 33 and 37. If, however, the manual operable lever 42 is retained by the operator in its depressed position and the operating handle is rotated continuously a number of times in order to print a series of tickets, the eccentric will cause the stop member to oscillate about its pivot pin 49 releasing the arms 9 and 12 of the V and Y shaped locking levers at the end of each cycle of operations. Should the audit roll have broken or become exhausted during the last cycle of operation of the machine the link 17 will now be free to move downwardly and so cause arm 13 of the V shaped locking lever to enter recess 36 in the boss 34 and lock the machine against further operation until the audit box is replenished.

As in the previous embodiment it is not possible to unlock the rear door until an operating cycle has been completed and the arm of the Y shaped locking lever is free to be moved into the recess 36 in the boss by the lock 1 and the link 5 in order to prevent further operation of the machine until the door is again closed and re-locked.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim is:

1. In a machine for issuing tickets and the like mechanism for preventing the commencement of a cycle of operation of the machine under predetermined abnormal conditions comprising, in combination, at least one lever pivoted intermediate its ends; a first rotatable member making at least two complete revolutions each cycle of operation of the machine and having an abutment formed thereon; a second rotatable member making only a single complete revolution each cycle of operation of the machine and carrying a projection; means responsive to said predetermined abnormal conditions for turning said lever to engage said abutment with one of its ends, thereby preventing the operation of the machine; a pivotally mounted stop member; a first arm on said stop member adapted to engage the other end of said lever to prevent the turning of said lever; and a second arm on said stop member engaged by said projection at the completion of each cycle of operation thereby to rock the stop member about its pivot to move said first arm out of engagement with said other end of said lever.

2. In a machine for issuing tickets and the like comprising an audit box containing an audit roll and having a normal operative condition and an abnormal inoperative condition, a door to prevent access to the interior of said machine and mechanism for locking said door having a normal door locked condition and an abnormal door unlocked condition, mechanism for preventing the operation of said machine under at least one of said abnormal conditions comprising, in combination, at least one lever pivoted intermediate its ends; an abutment positioned at the completion of each cycle of operation of the machine for engagement by one end of said lever thereby to pre vent the operation of the machine; means responsive to said one of said abnormal conditions to rotate said lever to cause said one end to engage said abutment; and a stop member automatically positioned during the operation of said machine to engage the other end of said lever, thereby preventing the rotation of said lever into engagement with said abutment until the cycle of operation is completed.

3. In a machine for issuing tickets and the like comprising an audit box containing an audit roll and mechanistn for detecting theabsence and the breakage of said audit roll, mechanism for preventing the operation of said machine in the absence and the breakage of said audit roll comprising, in combination, a lever pivoted intermediate its ends; an abutment positioned at the completion of each cycle of operation of the machine for engagement by one end of said lever to prevent the operation of said machine; means operated by said detecting mechanism to rotate said lever to cause said one end to engage said abutment; and a stop member automatically positioned during the operation of said machine to engage the other end of said lever thereby preventing the rotation of said lever into engagement with said abutment until the cycle of operation is completed.

4. In a machine for issuing tickets and the like having a door to prevent access to the interior of said machine and mechanism for locking said door having a door locked position and a door unlocked position, mechanism for preventing the operation of said machine when said mechanism for locking said door is in said door unlocked position comprising, in combination, a lever pivoted intermediate its ends; an abutment positioned at the completion of each cycle of operation of said machine for engagement by one end of said lever thereby to prevent the operation of said machine; means responsive to the movement of said door locking mechanism from said locked position to said unlocked position to rotate said lever to cause said one end to engage said abutment; and a stop member automatically positioned during the opera tion of said machine to engage the other end of said lever, thereby preventing the rotation of said lever into engage ment with said abutment until the cycle of operation is completed. I

5. In a machine for issuing tickets and the like mechanism for preventing the commencement of a cycle of operation of the machine under predetermined abnormal conditions comprising, in combination, a lever pivoted intermediate its ends; a member rotated by the operation of the machine, making a plurality of revolutions each cycle of operation of the machine and having an abutment formed thereon; means responsive to said predetermined abnormal conditions for rotating said lever to cause one of said ends to engage said abutment thereby preventing operation of the machine; and a stop member automatically positioned during the operation of the machine to engage the other of said ends, thereby to prevent said one of said ends from engaging said abutment until the cycle of operation is completed.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,190,949 Helsel Dec. 26, 1933 2,176,954 Clark Oct. 24, 1939 2,504,998 May Apr. 25, 1950 2,594,898 Ford et al Apr. 29, 1952 

